Week one weigh-in

Hey there!

So I've just returned from my first week weigh in.... and I lost... 9.5lbs! (That's 4.3 Kg to all you Europeans)

I'm really pleased with that, but now is not the time to celebrate. I've managed one week of eating well, but I have 7 months until the Great North Run, and a whole lot of weight to lose before then.

Here are some of the foods I've been eating over the past week.....

Chilli con carne with rice & salad

Chicken & All the veggies with brown rice / quinoa 

My favourite weekday breakfast - overnight oats with yogurt & berries

My weekend breakfast - smoked salmon with scrambled eggs, spinach & onions

'Courgetti' with prawns, tomatoes & pesto

Beef goulash with mashed swede, roast potatoes and sauerkraut (amazing and hands down the best thing I've eaten... Ever)

Chickpea & beetroot salad

I'm trying to keep variety & not eat the same thing every day, and make food that is delicious, healthy, and within the slimming world guidelines. 

It seems to be working! I'm really happy so far, and this week I'm adding exercise back into the mix, but not running yet. 

I'll be back with more updates later in the week :-) 

Burgers and Suchlike

Oh hey there! 

It's Friday, I started this new lifestyle at the start of the week. I'd be lying if I said it was difficult.

Week one is easy; you know you'll lose weight, you know you're full of motivation, you've been out and bought a whole pile of vegetables. 

My weekly weigh-in is a Monday, which I think is a great idea. If there's any time you're going to want to jump off the wagon and onto a stuffed crust pizza and into a bottle of red wine, it's going to be the weekend. I certainly feel like once I get this far into a week, why would I want to spoil all my hard work before I get weighed? However, I was sitting at my desk today at work, daydreaming about going home and cracking open a bottle of Malbec and ordering a parmo. 

There's a difference though, because this week I'm breaking my red wine & takeaway Friday habit. 

I'm meeting up with some friends tonight and we're going to Byron. I know this isn't ideal when trying to eat healthy, but I'm prepared. 

I've eaten great all day (no carbs with my dinner, only used 0.5  of my allowance of 15 syns, and I'm planning ahead. Normally, I'd quite happily tuck into a giant burger with bacon, cheese, mustard, relish and whatever else took my fancy. There'd always be a side of chips, and a couple of ales to wash it down. 

I've looked at the menu this week, and I learned that Byron (the menu is linked above) do "bun- free" burgers. They take away the bun and provide you with a free side salad instead. 

I've checked online and according to Slimming World forums, a Skinny Byron beef burger is 12.5 syns, it's actually within my day's allowance :).

However, looking into the menu, there seems to be even healthier choices- a mushroom burger, a chicken breast burger, there's even beetroot salads. I'm really looking forward to my meal and I'm glad I planned ahead.

It's also very much an achievement that I didn't crack open a bottle of wine and jump into my PJs. I'm proud of myself! 

I will be posting again on Monday / Tuesday with my week one weigh-in results, and a couple of pictures of the food I've been enjoying this week (including the burger). 

Wish  me luck.


P.S I don't want to continue posting about my blogs on Facebook forever, so to avoid missing any, you can enter your email address in the box on the right. I don't even get told when someone subscribes, but you get an email every time a new post appears. 

New perspectives

Hello!

It's been a very long time since I updated my blog. Here's why. You can't have a blog called "losing weight and keeping it off" while you're gaining the weight you lost.

Most of my friends are aware, than in the time between 2013 and 2015, I lost 6 and a half stone. 

Here's a picture if you like.

At one point I would go to the gym 6 times a week, eat 90% clean, and could run 5km in 31 mins. I used to go to my gym and talk to people who wished to join, inspiring them. I slept well, I felt organised and like my life was on track. However all I saw when I looked in the mirror was a morbidly obese imperfect person. 

I didn't expect to be sitting here, a mere 14 months later, trying to justify gaining it all back. All of it, probably more. There's no excuse, no medical reason... I stopped exercising and started replacing my runners high with a chocolate and takeaway high. I did try in this time to get healthy again, I even did a month of The Body Coach 90 day SSS Plan and really thought I was going to get back to my lightest.....

But I didn't. 

I continued to gain weight at a phenomenal rate. I got a new job, so the people there never knew the "healthier" me. I used that as a bit of a crutch to eat all of the time. 

I think about it all day every day, how much weight I've gained, how I don't exercise any more, how I don't run. Apps like 'Timehop' reminding me every day were like a little voice saying 'remember when you were smaller and you didn't even realise?' or 'Remember when that lovely jacket fit you' I felt / feel like such a failure, so much so that I keep trying, almost setting myself up for failure, because all I could think about was how I've never done what I planned to (and the name of my blog) - Losing weight and keeping it off!

So here's what I'm doing about it:

1. Accountability I'm writing this blog for me, not you. I aim to write at least once a week to check in on my life and reflect on what I'm doing right (and what I'm doing wrong)
2. Progression reporting - I will weigh myself once a week. I'll post it too. 
3. Target setting - I somehow have found myself running the GNR 2016. More to come on this later
4. Support - I've joined Slimming world. I need to do something to stop myself eating until I feel sick- and I think the support of weekly sessions will help me with this. 
5. Positivity - The negative stuff is written out now - it's time to forgive myself and move on. It's easier to say than do, but I'm ready to wipe the slate clean and focus on rebuilding my energy levels, exercising, and eating healthier. 

It's time to move on, learn to run again, and learn to be healthy. It's not going to be easy, but I'm ready for the challenge. This time, I know I'm ready. I don't have a choice. 

Next post will bring good news, I'm promising myself.